my friend bought a vista laptop and he can't connect to wireless networks with it. anybody else have vista and/or know how to make vista want to connect?

Is he trying to connect at home, or using public WiFi?

Does their laptop have a wireless adapter? (*chuckle* I have to ask )

I thought about asking that, but figured I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

yes.

mainly on public wifi. i think attempts to use it at his gfs dorm too but i dont know what the setup is like there.

omg are you sure he has a computer???

Is it saying that it's connected but not going anywhere on the web? If that's the case then turn network discovery on.

that is exactly it. how do you turn on network discovery?

vista = teh lose.

Network and File Sharing Properties. There's a whole slew of radio buttons to toggle in there. Plus, if you're not sure how to get there, that nifty Search box in the Start menu is helpful for that kind of stuff.